January 31, 2005

Day 61 Blog Entry

I've been doing pretty good this week. We got a lot of work done, and I got to commit a lady named Mickey to baptism this week, which is my first baptismal commitment! She is 75 years old and wants to join the Church because of how much it changed her family's lives. We also have another investigator that loves the Church because of her friend that's LDS, and so she's very excited about the Gospel.

In addition, an inactive member that Elder Robinson has been working with for 7 1/2 months, just all of a sudden started coming back to Church, and decided to completely turn his life around. He stopped drinking, started hanging out with LDS friends, and is even reading and praying everyday. His goal is to get married in the Temple with his non-member wife. So everything is getting pretty exciting right now.

And to make it even crazier, Elder Robinson is getting transferred, so I'm going to have to take over the area. I'll still be junior companion, but I'll be the missionary that knows everything about the area. I'm a little nervous, but I have faith that this is what's supposed to happen, probably to help me be more humble. I can't think of anything else to say, so that's all for now, God be with you.

Elder Timothy Bowden

Posted by jim at 05:18 PM

January 15, 2005

Excerpts from January 10, 2005 Letter

Elder Bowden wrote:

"It's pretty crazy here. It's been raining pretty much the last five days or so, non-stop. Biking in the rain is a blast, let me tell you. Sun City isn't built for rain, so all the flood canals are overflowing, and the city built streets that dip into the flood canal."

"Despite the rain we've had a successful week. Our most solid investigator...told us we had worn out our welcome. This took us completely by surprise. We were upset but the next day we just kept going, and went tracting and we got three new investigators, two of which are almost golden."

"Our mission is part of a new pilot program for Family History. We hand out Family History cards to people that aren't interested in the Gospel. They fill out information back to their grandparents. We give it to a Family History consultant who makes a packet and we bring it back and present it to the person. They already tried it in Sacramento and it revolutionized the missionary work there. I'm excited about it , but it is still getting set up here."

"I'm getting along great with my companion. We're trying our best to keep our conversations on Gospel topics, and it has really helped our missionary work in every aspect."

Posted by jim at 02:44 PM

January 03, 2005

Day 34 Blog Entry

Sorry, I didn't get a chance to take any pictures this week, it's mostly been too rainy, and I've been so busy. There's been a lot of rain and a little flooding. Sun City, California can't handle any rain, at all.

My companion, Elder Robinson, and I are in a biking area, and I get pretty tired out. I got pretty out of shape while I was at BYU. The members here are incredibly nice, and feed us very very well. I have only had one night where we weren't eating at a member's home, and a member dropped off food for us.

Elder Robinson is from Bismark, North Dakota and has been out for 10 months. This new year is his "Black Whole Year" which means it's the only full year he has during his mission. Humorously, it is also my "Black Whole Year" and I've only been out for a month.

Christmas in the field was weird. I enjoyed it, but it's strange having such a quiet Christmas. I was also the only missionary in my apartment that actually opened his presents ON Christmas. The Christmas present we get from the Mission President is we get to watch a PG movie or a football game. My companion and I watched Maverick. You never realize how many swear words are in a movie until you watch it on your mission!

Anyways, the Work is great. I am so enthusiastic about sharing the Gospel with people, even if my mouth doesn't work quite like I tell it to. I am so excited every morning to go and work. Happy New Year everyone.

Elder Bowden

Posted by Elder Bowden at 09:00 AM